If Namecoin is anywhere near as insecure as Bitcoin, it's a nonstarter. Yes, I know the cryptography underlying Bitcoin is secure, but as a matter of practical fact, Bitcoin itself as an end-user technology is hopelessly insecure. It's one thing having an endless stream of people waking up to find their bitcoins are irrevocably gone because someone hacked the computer, but we can't have domain names being irrevocably lost in the same way.

Does Namecoin actually work like that? If so, is there a similar alternative that doesn't?